Anderson Circle Farms Sells for $25 Million

Anderson Circle Farms in Harrodsburg sold for $25 million Wednesday after a spirited contest between the ultimate buyer and various combinations of bidders seeking smaller parts of the 5,529-acre Mercer County estate.

The auction attracted 147 bidders to the Lexington Convention Center, where they competed for more than three hours.

"It's hard to imagine a more dramatic finish than this one. A couple of bidders wanted the entire property, but we had a lot of folks -- including farmers, investors and other bidders -- who were hoping to buy various parts of the land and the homes that were part of Anderson Circle Farms," said R.D. Schrader, president of Schrader Real Estate & Auction Company, which marketed the property and conducted the sale.

"At various points during the competition, we had combinations of one dozen, two dozen and more bidders who were in the lead position for the property they were seeking to buy. The beauty of the process is that every bidder -- from the last one standing to the ones seeking the smallest amounts of property -- had an equal chance. Ultimately, it added up to a successful sale for the sellers at a fair market price," he said.

The property had been accumulated over time since 1967, when Belcan founder Ralph G. Anderson began acquiring farms adjacent to his original 220-acre Mercer County farm.

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